A PLANNING appeal submitted by MacLean Eggs for a new poultry house near Berwick-on-Tweed, permission for which was denied by the council planning and building standards committee last year, has now been considered by the Scottish Government and the original decision has been successfully overturned.

Committee members originally turned down the proposals to build a poultry house to hold up to 32,000 free-range hens at Hutton Hall Barns, but MacLean Eggs appealed on the basis that: "the committee decision went against the recommendation for approval from their own planning officer, even though the proposal had also gained the support from each of the statutory consultees including SEPA, environmental health, landscaping and roads officials."

A Scottish Government reporter has now reversed the council decision, ruling that the project can proceed. The reporter stated: "The principle of the type of use in this rural location conforms to the development plan" and that “its size and scale would not be unusual for a modern agricultural building, and is not out of step with some of the farm buildings I observed in the area."

The reporter added that, despite there being a small number of objections made against the planning application, “there is no evidence of complaints about residential amenity”. Residents' comments about feeling encircled by poultry sheds were considered, but the reporter added that at site visit they did not observe "such a feeling of enclosure”.

The reporter concluded: “The proposed development accords overall with the relevant provisions of the development plan and that there are no material considerations which would still justify refusing to grant planning permission."

Owner of MacLean Eggs, Angela MacLean spoke her her joy at the change, and said: “We were delighted to hear the reporter's decision to allow our appeal and are looking forward to building our new poultry house and progressing with our expansion plans."